Promoting your business

How to write a successful blog that also promotes your business

A business blog is one of the most cost-effective and easiest ways to promote your business. Done right, it can drive traffic to your website, increase your sales, establish you as an authority in your industry and also help you to reach new markets. Unfortunately, many small businesses are yet to wake up to the benefits of this tool. Valid reasons range from lack of time for writing the blog posts to a lack of ideas for quality posts. Here are my top tips for writing and building a successful business blog.

Write for your customers

Your blog, like your website, is not for you. It's for your customers, so write for them. Ideally, your blog should aim to either solve a problem for your customers or provide fresh insights into your industry.

Plan your content

Lack of time and ideas are the most frequently cited reasons many small businesses cite for not having a blog. However, with a bit of planning, you can have enough ideas to keep your it running for weeks or even, months ahead.

Your posts can be answers to the questions most frequently asked by your customers. For example, if you are a jeweller, you could write a blog post on what to look for when buying a diamond.

Albert C. Black, Jr. (born July 24, 1959) is an American business entrepreneur and community trailblazer. Black served as the first African American Chairman of the Dallas Regional Chamber in Dallas, Texas from 2000 to 2002. He traveled to 16 countries on joint...